Fullmetal Alchemist: The Manga Novelization
by 00zags
Summary: The ever popular FMA manga hits your screen in novel format! Whether you're a new fan or an old one, you'll get extra enjoyment out of this for sure. Rated T for language and some violence.
1. The Two Alchemists Pt 1

Meh, this should be fun. I'm a huge fan of FMA in general and especially of the manga. For any of you who haven't read it, or for those who have and would like to get some extra enjoyment out of it, this is for you. Actually, I got the idea from my sister who is currently in the midst of doing something similar for the Megaman NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE manga. And BTW, these chapters are going to be huge so don't expect quick updates. Just to give you an idea, my sis does the chapters of the Megaman manga in about seven pages each in Word. Those chapters are about 25 to 30 pages each in the actual manga. In FMA, the first chapter alone is _60 pages!!!_ The rest usually average about 40 or so. sigh In any case, enjoy the FMA manga in novel format. (Oh God, what did I get myself into…?)

* * *

_Alchemy: the science of deconstructing matter and then reconstructing it in another form. But like all scientific processes it must follow the natural laws set forth before time began. But when some try to go against those laws, the consequences can be grave..._

"…Al? …Alphonse?! …ALPHONSE!!" The cries echoed around the small room, but there was no one else there to hear them other than the one from where the words had come. The young boy slammed his fist into the ground. "Damn! _Damn it!_ How could this have happened?!" He ran his hand over the edge of the complex circular array drawn on the floor of the room. "It… it wasn't supposed to be like this…" The boy bowed his head, leaning forward on his arms, trying to comprehend just what had gone wrong. As he did, he happened to glance behind him. "Oh no…"he breathed, eyes widening. Where his left leg had been, only a bloody stump remained, cut off just above the knee. The gravity of what they had tried and the consequences of those actions dropped on him like a sack of bricks. "HE'S GONE…!!"

_Teachings that do not speak of pain have no meaning. For humankind cannot gain anything without giving something in return. This is the founding principle of alchemy._

* * *

"Children of God who dwell upon the Earth… There is no salvation without prayer and faith. The sun God Leto will illuminate thy path." The voice echoed through the highways and byways of the town, issuing from speakers placed at points in public places, not to mention nearly every private radio in the town. The speaker spoke in a calm voice, low and soothing, like a father speaking to his children. "Behold! The Lord hath descended from His heavenly throne to save thee from all thy sins." At a small outdoor food vending stand located near the center of town, two companions sat listening as the voice continued. "For I am thy father… I am the Emissary of the sun God…" 

"…A religious broadcast on the radio?" the first one questioned.

"'Emissary of the sun God?'" his somewhat shorter companion repeated, sticking his fork into his mouth. "What the heck is that?" he scoffed.

"Actually, I was going to ask the same thing about you two…" the stand's owner said, surveying the pair. "Are you guys street performers or something…?"

The shorter one spewed drink in response. "Hey, wait a minute, Pops!" he demanded. "What is it about us that makes you think that we're street performers?!" Though it didn't seem strange to the pair of customers, the fact that one of them was completely encased in a seven-foot tall suit of armor was attracting looks from passerby and other customers alike. The other was dressed mostly in black with a long red jacket over it and white gloves. His gold colored hair was pulled into a short braid at the base of his neck and one piece of hair stuck out at an odd angle in the front almost like an antenna.

The proprietor stammered for a response. "Well… I mean… what else could you be…?" After receiving a glare from the shorter one, who was obviously the stronger personality of the two, the stand owner changed subjects hurriedly. "I haven't seen your faces around here before. On a trip?"

The short one nodded fiddling around his fork. "Uh-huh. We're trying to track something down." He glanced up at the radio that had continued broadcasting throughout their conversation. "By the way, what's with this broadcast anyway?" he asked.

The stand owner looked at him in disbelief. "You've never heard of Father Cornello?"

Apparently he hadn't because after a moment, the short one responded, "…Who?"

"Father Cornello, the sun God Leto's emissary!" the stand owner explained. The other customers present were more than happy to throw in their little pitches for Father Cornello.

"He's the founder of the church of Leto. He can work miracles!" one said excitedly. "He's a wonderful man who came to this town a few years ago and showed us all the way of God."

"Yeah, he's amazing!" another customer agreed.

"They're real miracles! It's the work of God!" a third exclaimed.

The stand owner turned back to his foreign customer with a smile of satisfaction on his face. However that quickly faded when he discovered that they had turned away a little, chin resting on the counter and a thoroughly bored expression on their face. "You're not listening, are you kid?" he said.

"Nope. I'm agnostic," came the response. (For those who don't know just what that means, you can probably get an idea of it from the context, but Webster says it's "one who believes it impossible to know if God exists." This single educational fact brought to you by Warrant Officer Falman. Not really. Right, back to the plot.) The short one stood up, deciding he had had enough of all this religious talk. "Thanks for the eats," he said, nodding to his companion. "Let's go."

"Okay," his armored friend agreed and stood up as well. The only thing about wearing a giant suit of armor is that you tend to misjudge just how tall you actually are. As he stood up, the helmet bumped into an overhanging shelf that supported the radio that the broadcast was coming across.

"AAAAAH!!" the stand owner yelled as the radio plummeted downward. It crashed to the ground, smashing to pieces.

The armored one looked at it. "Oops…" he said.

"Aw man," one customer commented. "Radio's trashed…"

"Hey! Could you please be more careful, sir?" the stand owner pleaded. "Frankly you shouldn't walk around wearing that suit," he added.

The short one waved an apologetic hand. "Our bad. Don't worry, we'll fix it right away," he assured him. A swift nod to his companion and the armored guy bent down, took out a small piece of chalk, and began drawing around the shattered radio.

"You think you can fix it…?" the stand owner said, sounding doubtful.

"Just sit back and watch," the short one said as his partner finished his sketching. Now around the radio was a circular array with another circle inside it and a hexagram inscribed over that.

"Okay. All set!" he reported, standing up. He crossed his hands directly over the radio. "Here we go…"

The stand owner still didn't get just what was going on so needless to say when there was a bright flash of light and a loud boom, it sort of took him by surprise. "AAGH!?" As the smoke cleared, the stand owner noticed a small figure of an object sitting where the broken radio had been. "Wha…?"

"How's that?" the short one asked, pointing down at a brand new radio.

"That… That's amazing!" the stand owner said in disbelief as the radio began broadcasting again as if it had never been broken. "Can _you_ work miracles?!"

"Miracles…?" the short one groaned. _Don't demote our abilities to your religious fanaticism,_ he thought.

"We're just alchemists," his companion explained.

"We're the Elric brothers," the short one said. "A lot of people have heard of us," he added proudly.

"Elric, eh…" the stand owner said. "The… Elric brothers?"

"Hey, I've heard of you guys!" one customer exclaimed. "They say the older brother is a state alchemist they call the 'Fullmetal Alchemist,' Edward Elric!!" The short one seemed happy to finally get some recognition.

"So _you're_ the master alchemist that everyone's talking about!!" one customer said. "Wow, can I have your autograph?"

"Oh, I get it!" another one realized. "They call you 'Fullmetal' because you wear this armor!"

"Uh, no…" the armored one corrected. "It's not me. It's him," he said pointing over to his companion who was having some kind of breakdown from unintentional identity theft.

"Huh?" the "fans" said. "You mean the little guy?"

Now, let's point out something here. It's bad enough that you mess up the guy's identity, but then you go and mention the one thing that's taboo around him. Of course, we couldn't expect them to know any better. Idiot extras.

The short guy went ballistic on them, as he rightfully should have. "I'M NOT LITTLE!! DON'T CALL ME MIDGET!! OR SHORTY!! OR SHRIMP!!"

Townspeople scattered from his path, regardless of whether they had actually been part of the discussion or not. "But we didn't say any of that!" one whined.

The armored guy got him calmed down slightly before explaining their true identities. "I'm the younger brother," he said. "Alphonse Elric."

"It's _me!"_ the other one said, who was needless to say a little ticked off. "_I'm_ the 'Fullmetal Alchemist!!' Edward Elric!!!"

The townsfolk were still traumatized by Ed's rampage. "S-sorry about that…" one managed to stammer out.

It was at this point that another townsperson approached. "Good day, sir," she said, addressing the stand owner. "My, you're awfully busy today."

"Oh hello, Rose," he answered. "Going to the temple today?"

"Uh-huh," Rose answered, taking out a small purse and some bills. "With some offerings. The usual, please." As the stand owner began packing things up for her in a bag, Rose noticed the two brothers who stood there. "Oh, some new faces…" she commented.

Ed stopped in the middle of replacing the fixed radio on the counter long enough to say "Hello." Al greeted her also.

"Yeah, they're alchemists," the stand owner said. "They say they're looking for something." He placed the filled bag on the counter for Rose to take and accepted the payment for it.

Rose took the bag in her arms and smiled happily at Ed and Al. "I hope you find what you're searching for. May Leto bless you!"

The stand owner watched Rose walk off down the street. "Rose's become so happy lately," he observed.

"Uh-huh," one customer agreed. "And it's all thanks to the Father."

Being new to the area, Ed was left blank. "Huh?"

"Not only does that girl have no family," the stand owner explained, "but she lost her boyfriend last year in an accident…"

"It was hard to see her so sad," a customer remembered. "I felt really bad for her."

A second customer continued the story. "That's when she was saved by Father Cornello! He taught her about the sun God Leto!"

"Preach on!" a third customer agreed, as the narrative turned inevitably back to praising "the Holy Father." "He raises the dead and the souls of his faithful live forever! Cornello's miracles prove it!"

"You should see them for yourself!" another customer prompted the brothers. "It's definitely the power of God!"

By this point, Ed had learned to tune out the mindless praise, but there was something one of them had said that struck a very sensitive nerve. "'Raise the dead', huh…" he muttered to himself. "I don't like the sound of that…"

* * *

Across town, in his office at the temple, Father Cornello, a rather large bald man with a kindly face, concluded his sermon for that morning. "…and the grace of His light will sine upon all of His children." Putting aside his Holy Book, he flipped a small switch next to him that shut off the microphone through which he was broadcasting. 

"A fine sermon, your Holiness," one of the brothers of the faith complimented.

"Yes, thank you, your Holiness!" another agreed. "It's always an honor to hear you preach."

Another voice called out as the Father exited his office with his attendants. "You Holiness!"

Cornello smiled warmly at the speaker. "Oh, it's you, Rose. My, so dedicated! You're an example to us all."

"No, I'm just doing my duty," Rose responded. She began wringing her hands nervously as she got to the reason she had come. "Um… by the way, Father… When will you be able to…?" Her voice trailed off as Rose become unsure if she should be asking or not.

Cornello smiled softly at her. "Yes, I know what it is you ask. God has seen your good deeds."

Rose brightened up considerably. "Then…" she started

Cornello laid a hand on her shoulder. "But it is not yet time, Rose. You understand, don't you? Hmm?"

Rose's face fell. "…Yes, Father. You're right. Not yet…"

Cornello smiled again. "That's a good girl, Rose." With a final comforting pat on the shoulder, he left Rose with her disappointment.

Rose slowly wandered out to the main part of the temple, which featured rows of pews and a large carving of the sun God Leto at its front. She recognized two figures standing there staring at the carving. "Oh, you two again!" she exclaimed approaching Ed and Al, who looked up surprised. "Are you going to join the church of Leto?"

Ed quickly discouraged that idea. "Naw… Sorry, but I'm not religious."

"That's not a real answer!" Rose objected before going on into her own view of the religion. "If you believe," she explained, "you can live with hope and gratitude every day. It's wonderful!" Then she tried to bring it to a personal level for Ed. "If you have faith, you'll grow taller for sure!"

Ed began to advance on her. "What was that…?" he asked dangerously.

Al restrained him. "Easy, easy, brother. She's not saying it to be mean."

Ed conceded and wrenched his arm from his brother's grasp to go plop down on a pew in the front row. "Sheesh… how can you honestly believe these things?" he sighed. "Do you really believe that if you pray to God, the dead will come back to life?"

"Yes, I do," Rose answered resolutely.

Ed sighed again, pulled out a small notebook from his jacket, and began reading out loud. "Water: 35 liters. Carbon: 20 kilograms. Ammonia: 4 liters. Lime: 1.5 kilograms. Phosphorous: 800 grams. Salt: 250 grams. Saltpeter: 100 grams. Sulfur: 80 grams. Fluorine: 7.5 grams. Iron: 5 grams. Silicon: 3 grams. And 15 other elements in small quantities."

Rose was completely left in the dark. "…Huh?"

"That's the total chemical makeup of the average adult body," Ed explained. "Modern science knows all this, but there had never been a single example of successful human transmutation. It's like there's some missing ingredient… Scientists have been trying to find it for hundreds of years and do this day they don't have theory." Ed closed his notebook and put it away. "They say science is a lost cause, but I say it's better than sitting around praying and waiting for something to happen. For that matter," Ed went on, "the elements found in a human being is all junk that you can buy in any market on a child's allowance. Humans are pretty cheaply made."

Rose was offended by this remark. "People aren't objects!" she protested. "That's an insult to the Creator! God will punish you for saying things like that!!"

Ed merely laughed her off. "Aha ha ha!! Alchemists are scientist. We don't believe in unprovable concepts like 'God.'" Rose still didn't appreciate Ed's obvious disrespect for her beliefs, but didn't say anything as he went on. "We strive to uncover the principles of creation in the matter of the world, to pursue truth…" Ed laughed to himself as he thought of something. "It's ironic that we scientists… who don't believe in God… are in a sense the closest things to him."

"What pride…" Rose scoffed. "Are you saying you are God's equal?"

Ed smirked, crossing his left leg over his other knee. "Well… it's like that myth about the hero…" Ed glanced over at Al for quick second before going on. "He made wings out of wax so he could fly… But when he got to close to the sun… to God… the wax melted and he crashed to the ground…"

Rose didn't get the meaning of what Ed was trying to say and looked on, confused, as he and Al walked out.

* * *

A little while later, Father Cornello made an appearance in front of his followers. The townspeople were unbelievably excited, cheering and throwing flowers up in the air toward Cornello. Inevitably, someone finally shouted "You Holiness!! Give us a miracle!!" Cornello was only to happy to oblige. Catching a small rose blossom that someone had thrown, he cupped his hands around it. There was a bright flash of light and a bang and then Cornello lifted a giant sunflower above his head. The crowd ate it up, praising Cornello even more. 

At the back of the crowd, Ed and Al stood looking on. "…What do you think?" Ed asked after viewing the miracle by standing on top of his suitcase to see over the people.

"That kind of transmutation has to alchemy," Al concluded.

"That's what I thought, too," Ed agreed. "But what about the laws…?"

By this point, their voices had attracted the attention of another viewer standing nearby. "So you came to see him after all," Rose exclaimed, walking over. "_See?!_ He does have miraculous powers. Father Cornello is the sun God's child!"

Ed, predictably, was unmoved, much to Rose's annoyance. "Naw, that's alchemy, no matter how you look at it. Cornello's a fraud," he added flatly.

"But he can bypass the laws for some reason," Al observed.

"Yeah… that's the problem right there," Ed agreed.

"'The laws?'" Rose questioned.

Al explained. "Most people think that alchemy can do anything and create whatever you want, but in reality there are certain concrete laws."

Ed took over from there. "I guess the two big concepts are 'The Law of Conservation of Mass' and 'The Law of Natural Providence.'" Explaining the science he knew so well, Ed got a little carried away into the technical side of it, leaving Rose completely behind. "Although some conjure with the four elements, or with the three principles…" He would have gone on, but Al stopped him, pointing out Rose's obvious confusion.

"Um… let me try…" Al suggested. "A substance can only be created from the same type of substance. For example, if something's mostly made of water, you can only use it to make other things with the attributes of water."

"In other words," Ed cut back in, wanting to get his say, "the basics of alchemy is the 'Equivalent Exchange!' That means that to obtain something, something of equal value must be lost. But that old guy," Ed continued, referring to the "miracle" they had just witnessed, "is making too much out of too little… Alchemy-wise, that's breaking the law."

"See?!" Rose burst in. "So why don't you two have faith that it's a miracle already?!" Her pleas fell on deaf ears as the two brothers discussed among themselves.

"Brother…" Al said. "Do you think…?"

"Yeah, I do," Ed confirmed, eyeing the red stone ring Cornello wore. "I think we've found it." With a sudden change of attitude, he whirled around to face Rose, a bright smile on his face. "Hey lady, I'm starting to get interested in this religion! I'd _love _to speak to his Holiness! You think you could take me to him?"

Rose was completely convinced that Ed had had a change of heart. "Oh my! So you're finally starting to believe?" she asked happily. And of course, she was only too happy to take the two back to the temple to meet with his Holiness.

* * *

Later that day, a brother of the faith, whose name was Cray, knocked on the door of Cornello's office. After receiving the "Come in", he opened the door to report. "Your Holiness, there are some people here who are requesting an audience with you. It's a boy and a man in a suit of armor. They say they're the Elric brothers…" he added. 

Cornello was in no mood to hear this. "What? I'm busy ­­-- Send them away!" Cray nodded and headed back out the door, but Cornello stopped him. "Wait, hold on. The Elric brothers? Edward Elric?!"

"Yes, it was the boy who called himself that…" Cray confirmed. "Do you know him?"

"Aaggh…! This is bad!" Cornello groaned. "It's Edward Elric…" he explained. "The Fullmetal Alchemist!!"

Cray could hardly believe it. "Wha…? But he's a little brat, only this high!" Cray exclaimed holding his hand halfway up his chest. "You're kidding, right?!"

"Fool!" Cornello muttered. "Alchemic skill has nothing to do with age! I had heard that he obtained the title of State Alchemist at age 12… So… the rumors about this brat were really true…"

"What is a State Alchemist doing here!?" Cray wondered. "Could it be that our plan…"

"It seems the dogs of the military have good noses," Cornello said.

"Shall we chase them away?" Cray suggested.

"No, that would cause more suspicion," Cornello pointed out. "And eve if we did chase them away, they'd come back… and bring more." An evil grin spread over Cornello's face. "Let's just say… they never came here. How does that sound?"

It took a moment for Cray to understand what the Father was suggesting, but once he did a smirk appeared on his own face. "It shall be as God wills…" he answered.

* * *

Sorry, to disappoint you all, but I'm gonna have to cut it off there. This chapter is just way too long to do all in one shot. Gives you something to look forward to. Review as always… and later days. 

Just a minor thing though, I find it kind of funny that Ed hates being called short and I was calling him "the short one" for about half of this chapter.

Ed: (offscreen) WHAT WAS THAT?!

Uh, nothing...

Ed: GET BACK HERE YOU!!

AAAGHH!! RUN AWAY!!

Fullmetal Alchemist © Hiromu Arakawa. Sadly…


	2. The Two Alchemists Pt 2

Well, I'm really happy with the way this is turning out. I got like five reviews and just as many faves and alerts on the day this was published. (But then I didn't get any after that. But that's besides the point.) Well, here's the second part of the super huge first manga chapter. More action this time around.

* * *

It was only a short time later as Brother Cray led Edward and Alphonse, accompanied by Rose into a long hallway on the way to Father Cornello's office. "His Holiness is very busy," Cray explained as they passed by two other brothers bearing pennants with the sun God's emblem on them, "so it's not easy to get an audience with him. You two are very lucky."

Ed kept up his happy attitude act. "I'll try not to talk for too long," he said. Neither of them noticed the two pennant bearers close and lock the door behind them.

Cray began grinning and reached for something inside his shirt. "Yes, let's end it right away," he said. "Like this!" Cray suddenly whirled around and stuck a small pistol to one of the eyeholes in Al's helmet. Before anyone had time to react, he fired, blowing off the helmet. Rose screamed in shock as the helmet and armor crashed to the ground. Ed suddenly found himself restrained by the two pennant bearers.

"Brother Cray! What are you doing!!?" Rose demanded.

"Rose," Cray began, "these are heathens that were trying to entrap His Holiness. They're evil."

Rose could hardly believe her ears. "What!? But His Holiness would never let you do this…" she protested, looking where Al's helmet lay, smoking. "Let you…"

"He did allow it," Cray corrected, a small smile appearing on his face. "The words of His Holiness are the words of God." He pointed the pistol toward Edward's head. "This is the will of God!"

Cray was just about to fire when another voice interrupted. "Hmm… guess there's some really bad gods out there."

Cray found the pistol gripped by Al's armor, still minus the helmet. He could see down inside it. It was moving and words were still coming from it, but it was completely empty. "WHA…?" he suddenly yelled, but then the Elrics made their move.

Ed grabbed one of the bearers and flipped him over onto his back, slamming him into the ground. Cray meanwhile received a devastating armored punch to his jaw, shattering it and losing several teeth, probably breaking his nose as well. The second bearer tried making a run for it until he was bowled head over heels by Al's helmet. "Alright!!" Ed said. "Strike!"

Al wasn't nearly as happy about his head being used as a projectile. "My head…!"

Rose had stood there in shock nearly the entire time but now she somehow managed to find her voice. "Wh-wh-wh… What is this?!" she finally stammered out, pointing in horror at the headless, empty armor.

Being completely used to such things, Ed and Al weren't nearly as concerned about the situation. "Nothing special…" Ed said, banging on the armor to show.

"It's just what it looks like," Al's voice echoed from the armor.

"Th-there's nothing inside…" Rose said, continuing in her shock. "It's empty…?!"

Al retrieved his helmet and placed it back on, giving him a more normal look, as normal as a living suit of armor could be. "You might say that this is what happens when you commit the greatest sin…" he explained. "When you trespass in God's domain. My big brother and I both…" his voice trailed off as he realized that he shouldn't reveal things about Ed unless Ed agreed to it. Ed said nothing, his back turned to Rose.

"You too… Edward?" Rose asked softly. She couldn't see anything visibly different about Ed from any other human being.

Ed was silent for a second, but then spoke, scratching the back of his head. "Well, let's just save that story for another time," he decided. He glanced down at the battered Cray. "…Anyway, I guess your God showed his true colors."

Rose immediately began to protest. "No! It has to be some kind of mistake!!"

"Aww, man…" Ed groaned to himself. "She's seen all this and she still believes in 'His Phoniness?'" After a short bit of thinking to come up with a solution, he turned back to Rose, a serious expression on his face. "Rose…" he asked. "Do you have the courage to face the truth?"

Rose was unsure of what he could mean until Ed began explaining his plan…

* * *

Another few minutes later, Ed and Al stood together outside a set of double doors. "Is this Cornello's room?" Al wondered. "The one that Rose told us about?"

Ed advanced on the door. "Let's see…" However, before Ed could attempt to open the door, it swung open of its own free will. Ed looked in on a dark room. "Hmph," he said, smirking. "I guess that means 'come on in.'" The two walked forward in silence, not budging as the door slammed shut behind them. Soon they reached a raised balcony with stairs leading down to it from some other place that wasn't visible.

A voice spoke from the darkness. "Welcome to the church of the Great Leto," Cornello said as he came down the stairs to the balcony. "Did you come to hear me preach, hmm?"

"Yea, by all means, teach us…" Ed said, a smirk appearing on his face. "…like about how you use your lame alchemy to deceive your followers!"

Cornello played the ignorant. "Well… I'm not sure what you mean. Please don't confuse my miracles with alchemy. If you saw for yourself, you'd believe…"

Ed cut him off. "Yeah, I've seen it alright…" Ed changed tones as he began getting to the point of this confrontation. "And what I couldn't understand was how you're able to do transmutation that goes against the Laws…"

"That's why I'm telling you it's not alchemy…" Cornello reiterated.

"And then it came to me," Ed said, as if Cornello hadn't said a word. "The Philosopher's Stone. That's how you do it, right?" Cornello didn't say anything, but it was clear that Ed had his attention. "Like maybe…" Ed continued. "Just maybe… It's that ring?" Ed hypothesized, pointing out the red stone ring Cornello wore on one hand.

There was silence for a moment before Cornello spoke again. "Heh… The government gets their money's worth out of you, don't they? I guess you saw through the whole thing. Correct!" he said, his expression changing completely from that of a loving father of the faith to the stern look of a conspirator. He held forth the hand that bore the ring for Ed to see. "The Philosopher's Stone, the Legendary Catalyst, the amplifier of all alchemical processes. With this, I can conjure at the minimum price, for the maximum result!"

Finally seeing the thing for the first time in person, Ed did all he could to restrain himself from dashing up and ripping the ring off Cornello's hand. "How long I've searching for that…" he muttered.

"Hmph! What's this jealous look in your eyes?!" Cornello asked, a small smile creeping onto his face. "What do _you_ want the Stone for? Money? Honor?"

Ed turned the question back at him. "What about you? What do you get out of founding this phony religion? If it's money you want, you can make as much as you want with the Stone…"

"It's not about the money," Cornello answered. "Well, I do want money, but I can get that with almost no effort… in the form of donations from my flock. What I really need are followers who will happily give their lives for me." Cornello's face broke into a maniacal grin as he got into the depth of his plan. "Think about it! An army of fanatics with no fear of death! Soon I'll have more than enough people! Just watch! Within a few years, this entire nation will be mine!" Cornello broke into evil maniacal clichéd laughter.

Ed completely blew him off. "Well, fine, but I don't really care about that… Let's move on…"

"WHAT!!?" Cornello exclaimed. "Don't belittle my ambition by saying you 'don't care!' You'd _better_ care! You're a member of the military, after all!!" (What, you mean you _want _to get caught?)

Ed still didn't show any signs of worry. "You know," he said, "to be honest, I could care less about my country or the military. I'll be blunt!" Ed said, pointing a finger at Cornello. "Give me the Philosopher's Stone! If you do that, I'll stay quiet about the scam you've been pulling on everybody."

Cornello was apparently uninterested. "Hmph! You'd try to bargain with me…?" he said in disgust. "My followers would never believe the words of an outsider like you!" Ed and Al made no reaction as Cornello continued on his little rant. "The people of this town love me! They think that my words come from God! No matter how much noise you make, no matter what evidence you have, they'll _never_ listen to you!" Cornello began to get back into his evil maniacal mode. "These idiots will believe anything I tell them! I've completely fooled them!" He went on to laugh maniacally even more.

Ed let him have his little moment before responding. "Wow… You _are_ smart," Ed said, including a little applause for extra sarcasm. "Thanks for telling me how you do it." A short nod to Al, and Al began unbuckling his chest plate as Ed continued. "You're right," he began. "Your followers would never listen to a word I say." Cornello would've gone on another rant, but Ed stopped him dead in his tracks. "_But!_" Al set down his chest plate with a loud clang. Ed jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at the cavity in Al's stomach. "What about _her_ words?"

Cornello gawked at Rose who had been hiding inside Al the entire time. And she had heard every word spoken. "R-Rose!?" he stammered. "What is the meaning of this…?"

Al was caught a little off guard as Rose suddenly began scrambling out of him. "Whoa…!"

"Father!!" Rose said. "Is everything you said just now true!? Were you fooling us this whole time!? Your miracles aren't real? The power of God can't grant my wish?" Tears began welling up in Rose's eyes as her voice rose. "You can't bring my darling back again!?"

Cornello was at a loss for words for a moment. But then he began speaking again. "Hmm… It's true I'm not God's emissary," he admitted. "…but with this Stone, it may be possible to transmute living beings which so many alchemists have tried and failed." Cornello straightened up and looked directly into Rose's eyes, speaking firmly. "Rose, I _will_ resurrect him!"

Rose was suddenly hit with a terrible dilemma. Cornello had admitted to her that he had been lying to them all this entire time, but he still offered a chance for her love to come back to her. Al sensed her conflict and warned her, "Rose, don't listen to him!"

Cornello held out a hand to Rose. "Rose, be a good girl and come here."

"If you go," Ed said, "you can never come back!"

"What's the matter?" Cornello asked. "You belong with us."

"Rose!" Al shouted.

"I'm the only one that can grant your wish. Isn't that so?" Cornello reasoned. "Think about your darling. And come!"

Everything was revolving around Rose and the pressure began weighing on her. She had to make a decision. Torn between the truth and love, she eventually made her choice. With slow heavy steps, she went to Cornello.

Ed sighed. _Well, so much for her…_he thought.

"I'm sorry, you two," Rose said, turning back slightly. "But this is the only choice I can make."

"You truly are a good child…" Cornello muttered, before turning to a large pull-switch on the wall behind him. "Well then… Now we must eradicate these heathens who threaten the future of our faith." He pulled it down and with a loud rumble a door lifted open behind Ed and Al, letting forth a creature that approached them. "The Philosopher's Stone is truly incredible…" Cornello commented as the creature came closer. "It can even create new life… Like this. Have you ever seen a chimera?"

The creature was a hybrid of a lion and some lizard type animal, with the lizard's rear legs and tail and the lion's fore legs and head with scaly patches appearing here and there among the fur. "Whew boy!" Al said, obviously impressed at the very least.

Ed was less interested. "Looks like this one might be tough to play with empty handed," he sighed, idly clapping his hands together. "So…" He knelt down and laid his hands on the ground. Cornello wondered what he was doing, but in a few seconds it became very clear. A light suddenly issued from beneath Ed's hands engulfing a certain part of the floor around him. Slowly, Ed pulled his hand up from the ground and long shape formed with it, following his hand. In a few moments, the shape came free of the ground and Ed held a long, flat bladed spear.

Cornello was amazed and slightly unsettled by this latest development. "Ergh…! You made a weapon from the floor without using a transmutation circle?! So you deserve the title of State Alchemist after all!" Cornello changed his attitude at once as remembered his own player. "But that still won't be enough!!" he shouted, waving a hand toward the chimera which charged at Ed. It swiped at Ed's leg, slicing right through the spear haft and shredding a good part of Ed's left pant leg.

"Oh no…" Ed muttered, holding his leg.

Cornello burst into laughter. "Wa ha ha ha ha! Well!?" he asked. "How do you like the taste of claws that can cut through iron?"

"Edward!!" Rose cried.

Ed suddenly looked from holding his leg, a large smirk planted on his face. "…Psych!" he said. Right on cue, the chimera's claws broke off. Cornello watched in disbelief as Ed delivered a hefty kick to the chimera's midsection with the same leg that had been "slashed." Ed held up the leg, allowing the dull shine of metal to show through the shredded pant leg. "Sorry, these are custom made," he said.

Cornello was growing increasingly uncomfortable with the situation. "Wh-what's the matter!!?" he shouted to the chimera. "If your claws won't work, then bite him to death!!" The chimera charged again on command, clamping its jaws down on Ed's right arm. However, as it began trying to bite into it deeper, both Cornello and the chimera began to get the feeling that something was very wrong. Ed wasn't even crying out in pain. On the contrary, he was glaring right into the chimera's eyes, no backing down one bit.

"What's the matter, kitty? Tastes bad?" Ed asked. But he didn't give time for an answer, even if the chimera could have given one, delivering another bone-crunching kick straight up into the chimera's jaw, effectively slaying it. Part of Ed's sleeve tore away as the chimera was catapulted into the air. Ed decided that a shredded jacket would become a liability and began to remove the article. But there was another purpose behind his reasoning as well. "Look at me, Rose," he directed. "This is what happens when you use alchemy on humans… This is what happens to sinners who trespass on God's domain!"

Rose held a hand over mouth, unable to speak from the shock of seeing Ed's apparent punishment for his sin.

Cornello was in shock as well, but found his voice quicker. "…Auto-mail…" he muttered, recognizing the devices that served as Ed's limbs. "Full-steel prosthetics… 'Full metal' prosthetics…" he corrected himself. Ed removed the entirety of his jacket and the portions of shirt sleeve that were shredded, revealing that his entire right arm was mechanical, as was his left leg. "So that's why…" Cornello realized. _"The Fullmetal Alchemist!!"_

Ed didn't flinch as the body of the chimera hit the ground with a crash behind him. "Come down here and face me, you third rate fraud," he challenged Cornello, extending his mechanical arm in a "Bring it" gesture. "I'll show you there's no comparison between us!"

* * *

Chapter 1 of the manga officially done! (Hughes stamp of approval) Well, that wasn't so hard… Now only… counts on fingers a lot more to go… -.-; Well, better get started on that… Review please and keep me motivated. 


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